You, Robot?
by Eternal Contradiction
Summary: This is a quick oneshot. Relena's life is threatened on the stairs of the Universal Commons in front of protesters, news reporters, and millions of viewers. 1xR as always.


_**You, Robot?**_

Relena had always been acclimated to being the center of attention. Her parents doted on her, her friends worshipped her, the public trusted her, and the press hounded her. It was the expected life of a debutant princess turned queen turned politician. Secretly, she sometimes loved everyone watching as she entered or exited a room, all eyes drawn naturally towards her. Most of the time, though, she despised the lack of anonymity.

This was one of those times.

She had just completed speaking in the Universal Commons against giving robots rights as legal citizens. Relena was known as being the sympathetic soul who would fight for the liberty of others, and many people were shocked that she took an anti-robot approach. It had made her unpopular with a certain group of people, but as per usual her stance had gained her the respect of many more citizens of the Earth's Sphere.

She always had enemies, a fact Heero took every opportunity to remind her of. Not that she had heard from him in the past few months, but she was sure if he could he would send her a postcard reminding her that someone could kill her at every step. Probably one with something threatening on it that said 'don't go to the bathroom without checking behind the curtain, or you could die.' And then her security would get in a tiff, thinking her life was in danger and… ok, that wouldn't happen at all. Starting with Heero sending her mail.

Relena stepped out of the Universal Commons building, automatically shielding her eyes against the harsh sun and the quickening flash of cameras. She wished for sunglasses, but her personal image representative had vetoed them as being impersonal. The press was out strong, pushing against her as she tried to walk towards her car. If Heero was here (how obvious was it that she missed him?) he would have made sure a path was cleared for her before she emerged from the glass doors of the building. She smiled for the cameras and let her personal assistant guide her towards a waiting car. Behind the hordes of media and an impromptu metal fence, a mass of protesters had gathered to make their opinions known. She saw signs ranging from 'Robots have the RIGHT to vote', and 'Robots R ppl 2', to 'BUUUUURN them ALL'.

It was sickening how more people showed up for a debate on machines than they did for the Compensation For War Orphans speech she had given a few days previously.

"Foreign Minister! How do you feel about the Rights for Robots Act? Do you really believe that they shouldn't be made legal citizens?"

"Relena! How do you feel about all these people who think robots have feelings?"

"How do you feel about robot slavery?"

How did she feel? It would be nice if they just stopped there, and then she could answer them truthfully. She was tired of being asked questions. Of course, that same person who had taken away her sunglasses would drop dead if she said that to the press.

Relena bowed her head, letting her hair hide her face from the unyielding cameras. The flashes still lit the surrounding area, making dots dance in front of her eyes. She walked right into someone. Before she could apologize, a nearby reporter gasped. When reporters gasped, you pretty much knew it wasn't good. Relena looked up into the man's face just as he grabbed both her biceps and hauled her into the air.

Someone screamed.

Cameras flashed, microphones and video cameras were suddenly solely on her and this man.

He smiled pleasantly as his fingers dug into the delicate flesh of her arms. Relena tried to kick and fight her way free, but her attacker was like a cement wall. Her body guards were pointing their guns and yelling for her release.

"Don't shooooot!" Someone was shouting. Relena couldn't turn her head away from the man holding her up. There was something disarmingly familiar about the way he was blankly looking at her.

She frowned, maintaining eye contact.

Abruptly and violently, she was airborne. She could almost feel the resistance of the air as she flew and crashed into the stairs with a painful thump. The humerus bone in her right arm snapped like a pretzel. All the air rushed from Relena's lungs in a loud whoosh and she fought off the pain and nausea just to catch a gasp of breath. The man was walking up the stairs towards her, not letting anything stop him. The guards were shooting ineffective rounds of bullets at him. He barely stumbled as the bullets hit home, smattering into his chest like spitballs on a pane of glass.

Relena struggled to regain the use of her lungs. She could barely think through the overwhelming pain, but she knew she had to get away. Ironically, all she could think was that by being murdered, she was letting down Heero and wasting all the hard work he had done throughout the years to keep her alive. There had to be something she could do to save herself. The man neared where she cowered like a small child. Relena scrambled up a few stairs with only the use of her left arm. The flight of steps was bereft of people where only seconds before there had been a gathered crowd.

The man reached her. Bullet holes pierced through the clothes covering his body, but there was no blood. His armour was amazing, she thought hysterically, she really should invest in a suit as a Christmas present for – oh God, she was going to die. He raised his fist to hit her. The moment before he struck, she rolled out of his way, practically diving, and landed on her broken arm. Hard. Relena moaned, falling on her back as the pain immobilized her body and unwittingly cradled her injured limb with her left hand as she looked towards her assailant. The cement under his fist was cratered and splintered. That could have been her head. It was like a bad B rated horror movie, only it was happening in her life.

He blinked, throwing off all semblance of humanity as he jumped the few feet between them. The robot landed on top of her, slamming his hand against her throat. Relena's head smacked against the stair behind her, causing her to blank out for a moment. If she thought she was having trouble breathing through the pain it was nothing compared to how her windpipe was now being crushed under his careless hold.

He brought his hand up to punch her again. The white light of the sun flared behind the machine attacking her, and Relena focused on the light. If she was going to die, she may as well entertain herself with the notion of going to heaven in the flash of white light like she had been taught as a child. The robot's arm was speeding towards her almost quicker than she could follow, and she morbidly couldn't close her eyes against her imminent death. Suddenly, the arm was violently ripped off the robot's body from behind. The stump on his shoulder was oozing complicated wiring and cooling liquid. Despite this injury, he was still squeezing the life out of her neck with his remaining hand.

Her eyesight grew dark. She thought she saw the robot getting beamed in the head with its own arm. Then everything ceased to exist and she fell into blackness.

* * *

Relena awoke in her own bed, swaddled with a burgundy comforter. Her right arm was throbbing to the beat of her heart. She was breathing. She batted at the blankets with her one good hand, panicking as she struggled to breathe.

"Calm down." A familiar voice whispered as her comforter was drawn away from her face. "You're safe."

"Heero?" The moment she saw him, her body immediately relaxed. No matter what, she was always safe when he was there. "Did you save me?" She croaked, noticing how sore and heavy her throat felt. She couldn't picture anyone but him saving her life, despite the fact he was undercover somewhere and shouldn't even be visiting her now. It was against the rules. Scary thought was, she wasn't even sure he WAS actually present.

He knelt beside her bed, holding the corner of her blanket. "No. Some technician for CNN did."

Relena stared at him, beholden to his cobalt eyes for making her forget about the pain for a second. "Are you real?" She asked next, not able to count the number of times she had woken in the middle of the night thinking he was there. Was he really here this time, or was she imagining him again?

He nodded. "You need to sleep." He stretched towards her night table in order to turn off the light.

"No," she whispered frantically, trying to sit up. Her head spun with the effort. "I'll wake up, and you won't be there!"

He shut off the light and stood up. Relena let out a disappointed sob. She felt him sit beside her on the bed. "Don't stress your throat by crying."

She turned on her side, curling up against the pain. Luckily, he was sitting so that she was on her left side, but she knew that even if he wasn't, she would risk the overwhelming pain of lying on her arm if it meant she could look at him in the dark room. She could sense him sitting beside her, and she realized that would have to be enough as her eyes closed drowsily and she drifted between wakefulness and sleep. The feeling was unnatural and Relena realized that she was probably so dosed on painkillers and soothers that it was amazing she woke up in the first place.

More asleep than awake, she remembered the robot's eyes. How familiar that expression had been. She'd seen that cold, inhuman gaze before. The eyes, ready to kill her. No emotion. No expression. Blue eyes watching her carefully.

She jerked awake. "No, no, no!"

"I haven't left," Heero frowned in confusion, continuing the conversation they had been having what must have been moments before. He reached out a hand, whether to comfort her or to stop her from moving, it wasn't clear. Relena flinched away from him, leaving his arm stretched out without connecting with flesh. Instead, he smoothly reached towards her nightstand and turned on the light. She blinked against the sudden brightness. He didn't.

"His eyes," she murmured, far more bothered by them than she should be. Her mind was connecting dots that might not have any reason to be connected. "Heero. Oh my God. When he looked at me, I knew I was going to die. His gaze was so dead, it reminded me of…" she trailed off. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she didn't have to have this conversation with him.

"Relena," he warned. It was the closest he would come to asking her what she was talking about.

"Of how you looked at me when we first met." She sniffed, scrunching her nose in confusion. She hadn't even realized she had been crying. Heero didn't react outwardly to her comparison. She wished he would. Then she would know her answer for sure. "Do you think I'm right by not supporting robot rights?" She changed the subject, or at least hoped he assumed it was another topic.

"A good Politian would not doubt her convictions after a small incident like this." He pointed out, very Heero-like.

"A small incident?" She repeated, somewhat shocked. Usually he went into high-alert if someone caused her to break a nail, and he thought a robot trying to kill her wasn't a big deal? Wait, no, she got what he was trying to say. He was telling her she was stupid for doubting herself. He was also telling her, in such a subtle way she might be misinterpreting, that he supported her. Since she needed to know, she rephrased the question to be more direct to the point. Hopefully his answer would echo the sentiment. "Do you believe robots should have rights?"

His expression was still closed to her. "It doesn't matter what I believe. I'm not the one who has influence in the matter." Then, to prove he knew her better than he usually admitted to, he continued. "And my opinion shouldn't influence you."

Yeah, he was right again. So what? He still wasn't answering her question. "Do YOU?" She stressed, her exhaustion forgotten as she tried to get a straight answer from him. It was worse than pulling perfectly healthy teeth out of clinging gums.

"No," he finally answered. "Robots are not human."

She thought she would be happy with him answering that question, but she should have known better. Whether he believed robots had rights or not was not the issue. She was going to have to ask and make a fool of herself. "Are you?"

"Am I?"

"Robot. Human. Whichever." She tried not to grind her teeth in annoyance. Sometimes she wondered if he deliberately toyed with her.

"I'm real," he answered, frowning at her.

She was half-way through smiling at him before she realized he still hadn't answered the question. "Real human or real robot?" She demanded, voice croaking as she give him a weak imitation of his infamous glare. She thought she heard him chuckle, but she must have been imagining it because he didn't look amused at all. Of course, he never looked amused.

"Does it matter?" He asked as he brushed his fingers across her forehead.

Yeah. He was definitely doing this on purpose. It made her relax a bit to know he was able to mess with her. It might not be a very Heero thing for him to do, but maybe he was taking lessons from Duo, or he didn't even realize he was doing it, or maybe, and this one was somewhat frightening, but she could be attributing things to him which weren't there. "Yes, it does matter." Because she couldn't be in love with a robot and deny them privileges at the same time, and she'd rather change her political stance than displease Heero in any way.

"I'm human." He stood up, bringing a close to their conversation, and moved towards the door.

"How long have you been undercover with CNN?" She asked, just as he was reaching for the doorknob. He paused, posture straightening and she congratulated herself for getting at least this speculation right. He turned, carefully watching her, but not answering. "Most normal techs would be frantically filming my death instead of saving my life."

"Hn."

"Thanks for saving me again." She whispered, clutching at the comforter on her bed. She felt vulnerable again, now that he was leaving. The light was still on beside her, and she knew it would take her a bit of maneuvering to turn it off once he left with only one functioning arm.

He gave a brief nod. "You're welcome," he replied, turning and walking out the door. This time, she was able to easily read his response. He was the one who saved her. Tomorrow, she'd give CNN an exclusive statement as her gratefulness to their employee for saving her life. Hopefully it would be enough to keep his cover until he finished whatever mission he was on. Tonight, though, she needed to sleep and dream of threatening blue eyes which no longer wanted to kill her.

©RelenaFanel26/05/2006

Hey! It's been a while since I updated anything GW. Some of you may remember me, but I'm not counting on it. To check out other (and probably better) Gundam Wing stories check my profile. Be kind and review.


End file.
